Amber had given up on love but sparks fly when she meets her father’s old friend, Steve, at a BBQ. As their whirlwind romance leads to marriage, everything seems perfect. But on their wedding night, Amber discovers Steve has an unsettling secret that changes everything.
I pulled up to my parents’ house and stared at the line of cars parked across the lawn.
“What’s this all about?” I muttered, already bracing myself for whatever family surprise was waiting inside.
A woman in her car | Source: Midjourney
I grabbed my purse, locked the car, and headed toward the house, hoping it was nothing too chaotic.
As soon as I opened the door, the smell of grilled meat hit me, along with the sound of my dad’s booming laugh. I walked into the living room and peeked out the back window.
Of course, Dad was hosting some kind of impromptu BBQ. The whole backyard was filled with people, most of them from his auto repair shop.
People at a BBQ | Source: Pexels
“Amber!” Dad’s voice cut through my thoughts as he flipped a burger with that same apron he’s had for years. “C’mon, grab a drink and join us. It’s just the guys from work.”
I tried not to groan. “Looks like the whole town’s here,” I mumbled, slipping off my shoes.
Before I could join in the familiar, chaotic atmosphere, the doorbell rang. Dad tossed the spatula down and wiped his hands on his apron.
A man walking into a house | Source: Midjourney
“That must be Steve,” he said, almost to himself. He glanced at me as he reached for the doorknob. “You haven’t met him yet, right?”
Before I could even answer, Dad had already flung the door open.
“Steve!” he boomed, giving the guy a solid clap on the back. “Come on in, you’re just in time. Oh, and meet my daughter, Amber.”
I looked up, and my heart skipped a beat.
A man standing on a doorstep | Source: Midjourney
Steve was tall and a little rough around the edges in a ruggedly handsome way, with graying hair and eyes that somehow managed to be both warm and deep. He smiled at me, and I felt this strange flutter in my chest that I wasn’t prepared for.
“Nice to meet you, Amber,” he said, offering his hand.
His voice was calm and steady. I shook his hand, a little self-conscious about how I must look after driving for hours.
“Nice to meet you, too.”
A woman | Source: Midjourney
From that point on, I couldn’t stop glancing at him. He was the kind of man who made everyone around him comfortable, always listening more than talking. I tried to focus on the conversations around me, but every time our eyes met, I felt this pull.
It was ridiculous. I hadn’t even been thinking about love or relationships for ages. Not after everything I’d been through.
I’d pretty much given up on finding “the one” and was more focused on work and family. But something about Steve made me want to reconsider, even though I wasn’t ready to admit it.
A thoughtful woman | Source: Midjourney
As the day wound down, I finally said my goodbyes and headed to my car. Of course, when I tried to start it, the engine sputtered and died.
“Great,” I groaned, slumping back in my seat. I considered going back inside to ask Dad for help, but before I could, there was a knock on my window.
It was Steve.
“Car trouble?” he asked, smiling as if this kind of thing happened every day.
A smiling man | Source: Midjourney
I sighed. “Yeah, it’s not starting. I was just going to get my dad, but…”
“Don’t worry about it. Let me take a look,” he offered, already rolling up his sleeves.
I watched him work, his hands moving with practiced ease. Within a few minutes, my car roared back to life. I hadn’t even realized I was holding my breath until I exhaled.
A car engine | Source: Pexels
“There you go,” he said, wiping his hands on a rag. “Should be good now.”
I smiled, genuinely grateful. “Thanks, Steve. I guess I owe you one.”
He shrugged and gave me a look that made my stomach flip. “How about dinner? We can call it even.”
I froze for a second. Dinner? Was he asking me out?
A smiling man | Source: Midjourney
I felt that familiar flicker of doubt, the little voice in the back of my head reminding me of all the reasons I shouldn’t say yes. But something in Steve’s eyes made me want to take the chance.
“Yeah, dinner sounds good.”
And just like that, I agreed. I never would’ve imagined then that Steve was exactly the man I needed to heal my wounded heart… or how deeply he’d hurt me, either.
A woman | Source: Midjourney
Six months later, I stood in front of the mirror in my childhood bedroom, staring at myself in a wedding dress. It was surreal, honestly. After everything I’d been through, I didn’t think this day would ever come.
I was 39 years old, and I’d given up on the whole fairy tale, but here I was — about to marry Steve.
The wedding was small, just close family and a few friends, exactly what we wanted.
A wedding venue | Source: Pexels
I remember standing at the altar, looking into Steve’s eyes, and feeling this overwhelming sense of calm. For the first time in a long time, I wasn’t second-guessing anything.
“I do,” I whispered, barely able to keep the tears from spilling over.
“I do,” Steve said back, his voice thick with emotion.
And just like that, we were husband and wife.
A newlywed couple | Source: Pexels
That night, after all the congratulations and hugs, we finally got some alone time. Steve’s house, our house now, was quiet, the rooms still unfamiliar to me. I slipped into the bathroom to change into something more comfortable, my heart full and light.
But the minute I slipped back into the bedroom, I was greeted by a shocking sight.
Steve was sitting on the edge of the bed, his back to me, talking softly to someone… a someone who wasn’t there!
A man speaking to someone | Source: Midjourney
My heart skipped a beat.
“I wanted you to see this, Stace. Today was perfect… I just wish you could’ve been here.” His voice was soft, full of emotion.
I stood frozen in the doorway, trying to make sense of what I was hearing.
“Steve?” My voice sounded small, unsure.
He turned around slowly, guilt flickering across his face.
A startled man | Source: Midjourney
“Amber, I—”
I stepped closer, the air between us thick with unspoken words. “Who… who were you talking to?”
He took a deep breath, his shoulders slumping. “I was talking to Stacy. My daughter.”
I stared at him, the weight of his words slowly sinking in. He’d told me he’d had a daughter. I knew she had died. But I didn’t know about… this.
A concerned woman | Source: Midjourney
“She died in a car accident, with her mom,” he continued, his voice strained. “But sometimes I talk to her. I know it sounds crazy, but I just… I feel like she’s still here with me. Especially today. I wanted her to know about you. I wanted her to see how happy I am.”
I didn’t know what to say. My chest felt tight and I couldn’t quite catch my breath. Steve’s grief was raw, a living thing between us, and it made everything feel heavy.
But I didn’t feel scared. I didn’t feel angry. Just… so sad. Sad for him, for everything he’d lost, and the way he’d been carrying it all alone. His grief hurt me as though it were my own.
A sad man | Source: Midjourney
I sat down beside him, my hand finding his. “I get it,” I said softly. “I do. You’re not crazy, Steve. You’re grieving.”
He let out a shaky breath, looking at me with such vulnerability that it nearly broke my heart. “I’m sorry. I should’ve told you sooner. I just didn’t want to scare you away.”
“You’re not scaring me away,” I said, squeezing his hand. “We all have things that haunt us. But we’re in this together now. We can carry this together.”
An earnest woman | Source: Midjourney
Steve’s eyes welled up with tears, and I pulled him into a hug, feeling the weight of his pain, his love, his fear, all of it wrapped up in that moment.
“Maybe… maybe we can talk to someone about it. A therapist, maybe. It doesn’t have to be just you and Stacy anymore.”
He nodded against my shoulder, his grip on me tightening. “I’ve thought about it. I just didn’t know how to start. Thank you for understanding, Amber. I didn’t know how much I needed this.”
An emotional man | Source: Midjourney
I pulled back just enough to look him in the eyes, my heart swelling with a love deeper than I’d ever known. “We’ll figure it out, Steve. Together.”
And as I kissed him, I knew we would. We weren’t perfect, but we were real, and for the first time, that felt like enough.
But that’s the thing about love, isn’t it? It’s not about finding some perfect person without any scars; it’s about finding someone whose scars you’re willing to share.
A couple holding hands | Source: Pexels
Here’s another story: Emma’s world shatters when Steve’s ex, Susan, interrupts the ceremony to announce that she’s dying and beg Steve to spend her last six months with her. Shocked and betrayed, Emma demands answers, only to find Steve torn between his past and their future.
This work is inspired by real events and people, but it has been fictionalized for creative purposes. Names, characters, and details have been changed to protect privacy and enhance the narrative. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental and not intended by the author.
The author and publisher make no claims to the accuracy of events or the portrayal of characters and are not liable for any misinterpretation. This story is provided “as is,” and any opinions expressed are those of the characters and do not reflect the views of the author or publisher.
Anne Hathaway Reveals an Incident That Made Her Choose Sobriety as She Celebrates 5-Year Milestone
Anne Hathaway achieved a significant milestone in her journey of maintaining sobriety. The 41-year-old actress revealed that she has been living a healthy lifestyle for five years. Hathaway also expressed her joy about reaching this milestone and shared an incident that helped her break the bad habit.
Hathaway brought up her sobriety, when asked about her thoughts on middle age.
In her new movie, The Idea of You, Hathaway played Solène, a 40-year-old divorced mom who finds herself in a romance with a younger man—a singer in a boy band, played by Nicholas Galitzine. During an interview about her new role, she was questioned about her thoughts on middle age.
Hathaway responded, “I don’t take it seriously. There are so many other things I identify as milestones. I don’t normally talk about it, but I’m over five years sober. That feels like a milestone to me.” She admitted that this problem was probably a method she used to deal with physical stress caused by feeling disconnected from her body.
What about an age, the actress said she feels blessed to be her age, “40 feels like a gift. The fact of the matter is, I hesitate at calling things ‘middle age’ simply because I can be a semantic stickler and I could get hit by a car later today. We don’t know if this is middle age. We don’t know anything.”
She also revealed an incident that made her choose sobriety.
The actress from Princess Diariesexplained that her choice wasn’t a criticism of this particular habit. “I knew deep down it wasn’t for me,” she said, mentioning how hard it was to explain to people that she wasn’t drinking at all in the beginning.
Eventually, Hathaway had a realization that made her stop being tough on herself for her decision, “If you’re allergic to something or have an anaphylactic reaction to something, you don’t argue with it. So I stopped arguing with it,” the star said, making it clear that she doesn’t judge anyone.
Hathaway’s choice to start a healthy lifestyle came as she was adjusting to being a mom of two. Her oldest son Johnathan just turned 8, and youngest son Jack is 3 years old. The actress mentioned that she made this decision for the next 18 years while her sons live in her house.
Talking about her eldest son, she opened up about an incident that made her think about quitting the bad habit, “He’s getting to an age where he really does need me all the time in the mornings. I did one school run one day where I dropped him off at school, I wasn’t driving, but I was hungover, and that was enough for me. I didn’t love that one.”
The Oscar winning actress also decided to cut out other unhealthy habits from her life as much as possible, like social media. “I make a lot of my lifestyle choices in service of supporting mental health. I stopped participating in things that I know to be draining or can cause spirals. I actually don’t have a relationship with myself online,” Hathaway shared.
Other celebrities who have been open about their sobriety.
Bradley Cooper
Bradley Cooper has been sober since he was 29. In 2013, he said that he chose sobriety because he realized it was going to ruin his life if he kept going. In 2023, Cooper expressed gratitude for overcoming his bad habits, saying he feels “very lucky.”
Tom Holland
Tom Holland mentioned that he’s the “happiest I’ve ever been in my life” since he started his journey of sobriety. Holland admitted he definitely had a problem, “I was really, really struggling, and I started to really worry that maybe I had a problem. So I decided that I would wait until my birthday, which is June 1. I said to myself, ’If I can do six months without it, then I can prove to myself that I don’t have a problem.’ And by the time I got to June 1, I was the happiest I’ve ever been in my life.”
Jessica Simpson
Jessica Simpson decided to become sober so she could be there for her kids, “I was at a place, and I was missing out on moments with my children, and then they were seeing me, and they were very confused.”
“I just wanted to be present and have clarity and be a good role model for my children, because I always wanted to be a good role model for the world,” she explained her decision.
Daniel Radcliffe
Daniel Radcliffe struggled a lot during the filming of the Harry Potter movies. In the interview in 2015, Radcliffe talked about his battle, “There was a period when I was transitioning out of ’Potter’ and entering the real world, where suddenly I didn’t have that stability anymore. I was quite distraught on the final day of ’Potter.’ I was really anxious. I was living by myself, and I think I was really scared.”
Lana Del Rey
In a 2012 interview, Lana Del Rey revealed her teenage battles, “That’s really why I got sent to boarding school aged 14. I knew it was a problem when I liked it more than I liked doing anything else.”
Anne Hathaway revealed the heartbreaking reason why she lost roles after an Oscar win. Click here to know the details.
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